🔗 Share this article

Verstappen benefited from a strategy call from the British team that contradicted decisions made by every other team during an early race safety car period

This proved to be a costly decision that gave up track position to the Red Bull driver in the final stages and retrospectively threw away the victory for the Australian driver

Race Outcome and Title Consequences

The race winner won to take his 7th win of the season, equalling the McLaren drivers, while the Piastri was runner-up and the Briton in fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz

Norris earned an additional points by overtaking Kimi Antonelli's Silver Arrow on the penultimate lap

Norris has been left with a 12-point lead over his rival, who overtook his teammate by four points heading to Abu Dhabi on December 5-7

To secure the title, Norris must finish at least third at Yas Marina if his rival takes victory next Sunday

Key Moments of the Thrilling Grand Prix

• The team's decision not to pit when a yellow flag was deployed on the seventh lap for a crash between the French team's Pierre Gasly and Sauber's Hulkenberg
• A strategy led by the Australian to bring forward his final stop in a desperate attempt to catch Verstappen came to nothing
• A unexpected podium finish for Sainz handed by the team's tactical decision

How McLaren Lost Out in The Race

The critical point for McLaren was when Gasly and Hulkenberg came together as the German tried to overtake the Frenchman around the outside of Turn One on lap seven

Hulkenberg's car was left damaged beside the circuit This triggered the safety car

The critical part of the timing was that it left exactly 50 laps remaining in the grand prix

With Pirelli imposing a twenty-five lap safety limit on the tires, that signified anyone who made a stop at that moment was locked into a rigid strategy with a additional pit stop on lap 32

Driver Reactions and After the Event Comments

No words

Piastri commented in his after-race interview: Clearly we didn't get it right tonight I drove the best race I could, as quick as I could, but there was no more pace out there Tried my best but didn't get it done

The race winner said: That represented an incredible race for us Our team executed the correct decision to pit That proved intelligent And super-happy to triumph in Qatar and remain competitive to the head, remarkable

Final Race Standings

• 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
• 2. Piastri (McLaren)
• 3. Carlos Sainz (Williams Racing)
• 4. Norris (McLaren)
• 5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
• 6. Russell (Mercedes-AMG)
• 7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
• 8. Leclerc (Ferrari)
• 9. Lawson (RB F1 Team)
• 10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

Looking Ahead

The all-important title decider at the Yas Marina The circuit itself does not create the most thrilling competition, but once again this evening event hosts an event which promises to be every bit as dramatic as Vettel's maiden championship in 2010, or the Dutch driver's much-debated first title in 2021